While recently in Hong Kong, I thought I would branch out and try some exotic produce I hadn’t yet had. So I bought a papaya. I took it home, eagerly anticipating a novel taste treat–only to discover that it tasted like it had been marinated in day-old road kill. “Okay,” I think, “I’ll just chalk this one up to inexperience in selecting papayas.” Now I am in the Boston area. A couple of days ago, I notice that the local Stop ‘n’ Shop has half papayas on sale. So I buy one thinking, “This one will no doubt be better.” Again, a dining experience ensues which is reminiscent of a meal the Beverly Hillbillies might have had during their drive west. So what gives? Bad luck? Do I have the rare, dominant “papaya tastes like ass” gene? Or does papaya always taste awful?
Yes.
I love papaya - I used to grow it in my yard in Hawaii. Some people put lime juice on it.
No, but ass tastes remarkably like papaya.
If the papaya you had in Hong Kong tasted like ass, I can’t imagine what your reaction to Durian would’ve been.
Yes, papaya tastes like ass. It used to grow in my yard in Hawaii. And it’s ass. I just don’t understand papaya at all.
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
Wait until you try the papaya risotto
Well, it’s good to know I’m not a freak. Or if I am, my dislike of papaya is not symptomatic thereof. (Maybe **SnakesCatLady ** is the freak, since she has this inexplicable liking for papaya. :dubious: )
Your first papaya was in Hong Kong. This fruit is not grown commercially there and probably was picked and shipped in from Thailand or Malaysia several days before. Old papayas taste like ass.
Your second papaya was in Boston. You can imagine when that fruit was actually picked.
If you want a really good papaya, go to a farmers market in Hawaii and eat one. Not everyone likes them, but by trying a really fresh one, you’ll give papayas a true taste test.
It’s really good dried/candied
I have enjoyed sweet dried red papaya in the past, but I hated a green (unripe?) marinated papaya salad I had at a Vietnamese restaurant. Didn’t taste like ass, but sure didn’t taste good.
Papaya with lime juice is about three times better than plain papaya. But even then it’s not great. I mean, you think papaya should be playing in the same league as mango, but it’s not even on the same continent. Mango is sublime, papaya is…“meh”.
I forgot to mention. I believe papayas are everywhere in the tropics not because they’re so good but because papaya trees are so goddam prolific. One little tree about 8 feet tall will have 10 gigantic papayas ripening.
Mmmmm…risottolingus 
I’ve never liked papayas, even though in my country of origin they are grown and eaten regularly. My mom loves them, though. To me, papaya tastes slimy and disgusting. Oh, well, there’s no accounting for taste.
And how is it you know what “ass” tastes like? :dubious:
Papaya is more of an ingredient than a food in itself. A little lime juice, olive oil, red onion, some marjarom, and it’s perfectly enjoyable.
I thought I was the only one. It looks great in the bowl, doesn’t it? You think it is going to be juicy and sweet, but then: ass.
At least durian smells like it tastes. You have fair warning and if you still eat it, you have no one but yourself to blame.
and how is it that you don’t?
All joking aside, since papaya seems to be getting no support, I must say I love papaya. The fruit is very sensitive, though. It happens often that the fruit doesn’t ripen all the same time, so you have green, ripe and rotten parts in the same fruit. The person cutting it must really know what he is doing, in that case.
Also, they have to ripen in the tree, and they don’t last long after that. Store bought papayas, especially in places where they are not grown, are sure to disappoint.
If you really want to hate papayas, wait until you try them on location, from a local.
As said, lime juice does wonders for it. Papaya juice with lemon is heavenly. Also a papaya milkshake with cinnamon. Candied green papaya (dulce de lechosa) is so good, that even the lamest canned varieties are good. That is easy to find in latino supermarkets.
And I remember green papaya used in Thai dishes, but for that I will wait for someone who knows what he is talking about.